title: Diagnosis and management of 528 abdominal aortic aneurysms.
abstract: Between 1960 and 1979 528 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms presented to the university department of surgery. Of these, 222 (42%) were elective cases, 72 acute (14%), 174 had ruptured (33%), and four had had a spontaneous aortoduodenal fistula (1%). In all these patients resections were undertaken, but in another 56 patients (11%) the aneurysm was not resected. A review of these cases showed that 91% had symptoms at their first presentation; abdominal pain and backache being most common. The diagnosis could be established in 91% by the presence of pulsatile abdominal mass on clinical examination. The operative mortality for elective resection was 8%, for acute 19%, for ruptured cases 42%, and for spontaneous aortoduodenal fistula 50%. After successful resection the overall five-year survival was 65% by the life table method, and there was no significant difference between elective, acute, and ruptured cases. This five-year survival after resection compares favourably with the expected 76% survival of a similar normal population, and was considerably better than that for conservatively treated patients. As most cases have symptoms, and diagnosis may be established easily by routine physical examination in 91%, the prognosis for this condition could be considerably improved by increased awareness of its existence and early referral for treatment as an elective surgical procedure.
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications; D011183:Postoperative Complications